Page 10 of Rescuing Baylee
“I’m Detective Landon Hunter. I need the person who took out the gang member.”
The woman blinked and nodded over her shoulder. “She’s over there. Baylee saved all our lives, so you’d better not give her a hard time about it.”
Baylee? Was their shooter a woman? “Baylee what?”
“Mitchell. She’s a nurse on the peds floor, but she’s also part of our emergency pediatric trauma team.”
Hunter jotted down the name and title, wondering why the name sounded familiar.
“And you are?”
“Dr. Lillian Mendez. The Tango Blast member was just about to shoot me when Baylee took him out. Security is getting you a copy of the security footage now.”
Dr. Mendez explained her version of what happened. It was early in the investigation, but it sounded like this Mitchell had saved the day. Or night, as it were.
Several people joined Mendez in their appreciation for Mitchell.
“I knew she’d been in the Army, but I had no idea she could do all that,” one nurse said, shaking her head.
“I need to speak with her,” Hunter said. “Can you direct me?”
The nurse pointed toward one of the cleaner bays. “She’s the taller one with the ponytail.”
Hunter headed in that direction, but he paused as he caught sight of the woman’s lean back in blue scrubs. It suddenly hit him why he knew her name. The old woman downstairs in his new apartment building gushed about her like she was better than sliced bread. He knew exactly who she was, because he’d seen her in his apartment building so many times. He recognized the floppy ponytail of honey-blond hair and her shapely hips. And he’d wondered about her. Actually, he’d wondered about what she’d gone through to give her the incredible scar that ran down her face. It had faded with time, but it had to have been a devastating injury. And every time he saw her, he felt incredible anger for whoever had done it to her.
Hunter forced his feet to move, determined to remain objective even though his heartbeat had spiked.
“Baylee Mitchell?” he said, and she turned.
Hunter didn’t like being surprised by anything, but he felt a punch to the gut when her gaze met his. The woman hadthe prettiest moss green eyes he’d ever seen, even though they seemed a little cool right at this moment. Detached. He recognized the look. He’d seen it often enough in the guys he worked with, and even in his own face. It was the look of a person that had done something drastic and was now struggling with the repercussions.
She blinked and forced a slight smile. “Can I help you?” She tilted her head. “Wait, you look familiar. Aren’t you my neighbor? The new guy down the hall.”
He gave her a single, tight nod. “I’m Detective Landon Hunter. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
She glanced around the chaos and tipped her head. “Over here.”
She led him to an empty office and settled into a chair. There was blood on the knees of her scrubs, like she’d gone down to try to help the man she’d shot. As soon as she sat, she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, but she didn’t relax.
Landon cleared his throat. “I know this is a chaotic scene, but I need you to tell me what happened.”
Baylee took a deep breath, and he could see she was getting her thoughts in order. She didn’t fidget like she’d done anything wrong. From everything he’d heard, she’d done everything right, but he needed her perspective.
He allowed himself to look at her face, though, and despite himself, his anger stirred again. The scar was faded, but it was still a devastating mark that traveled down the length of her face. For the first time, he noticed the other scar that crossed over the bridge of her nose and went up through her eyebrow. He wanted to ask her how she’d been injured, but that was way beyond the scope of this investigation.
“Catalina Hernandez came in with two gun-shot wounds, one through her abdomen and one high in her chest,” she said, matter-of-factly, her voice steady and low. “In spite of our care,she expired on the table. We had to do an emergency C-section to rescue the baby, who also has a gunshot wound, through the arm. We were caring for the baby when Mr. Vega entered, shooting the security guard first thing. He continued to fire randomly, hitting several more bystanders. Killing Dr. Grant.”
Her gaze flickered, and she looked down at her lap. Hunter wondered if she’d known the people injured.
“Then he moved through the department, screaming for her. If anyone approached him, he shot them. When Mr. Vega was on the opposite side of the nursing counter, I scrambled across to H-Hank, the security guard, and took his weapon. We usually only have one guard down here. We should have had more tonight, because it was a full-moon.”
Her voice faded away for a moment, and he let her have her time. The stumble over the guard’s name was the only fumble. She must have known him and liked him. Then she refocused. “The guy circled back around. That was when Dr. Mendez caught his attention and showed him his woman. The nurses had snuck the baby into another bay. Dr. Mendez told Vega that he’d gone upstairs. But then he heard the baby cry out, and he got mad. He lifted his weapon, and I knew Dr. Mendez was dead if I didn’t do something. So, I shot him.”
“How many times?”
“Twice. In the heart. It was quick. He already had a wound through his lower belly, though. I haven’t heard, but he was probably already dying.”
Hunter nodded. “The ME called him a dead man walking. He had nothing to lose by coming in and shooting the place up. How did you know you could fire the security guard’s weapon?”